New Oxford man gets probation and time served in road-rage incident

William M. Walker, 61, pleads no contest in crash following chase over drugs.

William M. Walker, 61, was sentenced by Adams County Judge Michael A. George to 24 months of supervision. (SUBMITTED)

A New Oxford man was sentenced to probation and time served Thursday after pleading no contest to charges stemming from a car chase and crash over stolen heroin.

William M. Walker, 61, was sentenced by Adams County Judge Michael A. George to 24 months of supervision. Of that time, he was sentenced to 46 days of time served in Adams County prison, with the rest of his sentence on probation.

He pleaded no contest Thursday to charges of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and possession of a controlled substance. Walker's sentence followed a plea agreement reached with the Adams County District Attorney's office.

According to court documents, Sgt. Andrew Breighner of the Penn Township Police Department was clearing the scene of an earlier accident at Carlisle Pike and Wilson Avenue when Walker, in the officer's presence, rear-ended the people he was pursuing.

According to police, Walker said he went "to buy dope" June 22, 2011 in York with the crash victims, Timothy A. Stotsky Jr., 23 and Cortney P. Myers, 22, both of Hanover.

Walker told police that after the purchase, he took the two back to their vehicle parked at the New Oxford Shurfine. As they parted ways, Myers hugged him, and stole his pack of Pall Mall cigarettes where he stored his drugs, according to court documents.

As Stotsky and Myers drove off, Walker realized his drugs were missing, got in his car, and chased them, court documents state.

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Police were dispatched around 10:30 p.m. in response to a road-rage incident involving two vehicles heading south on Carlisle Pike. The chase ended when Walker's 2008 Hyundai sedan collided with the rear of Stotsky's 1999 Chevrolet truck at Carlisle Pike and Wilson Avenue.

Police questioned the three at the scene.

Myers denied stealing drugs from Walker, but said she took a pack of cigarettes from his vehicle, and threw them out of the window on Billerbeck Street as Walker chased them, trying to run them off of the road, according to charging documents. Police found a syringe where Myers had been sitting, as well as an orange prescription bottle for Alprazolam containing seven green tablets, according to court documents.

When police questioned Stotsky, he denied knowing that Walker and Myers were purchasing drugs, court documents state. And when Walker allowed police to search his vehicle, officers found five syringes containing a clear liquid, one metal spoon, a pair of scissors, a prescription bottle of Methadone, and numerous small plastic baggies.

The following day, police found the pack of cigarettes Myers had thrown from the vehicle, and it contained a substance that was later tested and confirmed to be heroin, court documents state.

Court documents show Myers was charged in January with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and false identification to a police officer. She pleaded guilty to the theft charge, and was sentenced March 27 to 12 months of probation.

Stotsky was not charged, but he was on probation from a 2008 drug case, and violated the terms of his probation by having contact with a police officer and not reporting it, court documents indicate. For that violation, Judge Michael A. George revoked Stotsky's county sentence, and resentenced him Feb. 21 to two to five years in state prison.

Stotsky had 346 days of credit toward his sentence, and was eligible for the state-prison recidivism risk reduction incentive program, which reduces his minimum sentence to 18 months.

In addition to the charges he was sentenced on Thursday, Walker was also originally charged with aggravated assault, an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia, harassment, criminal mischief and several traffic violations.